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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Countdown to the End of Kate: Toughest Questions

by Amy K. Bredemeyer
Kate Plus Eight "Kate's Toughest Questions"(S02E13): Kate told her twitter followers she'd answer questions they asked. Pretty simple and made for a simply boring episode for the most part.

Is she dating anyone? No. The kids are torn over whether they want Kate dating people or not. [I found this interesting because I had read that the kids were all pro-, which doesn't look like the case.]

Is she jealous Jon is dating? No. She doesn't care. She's glad to be divorced and on her own. [kind of. I mean, she wants to be with someone again, so she can't be that thrilled to be on her own.]

What is the relationship with Jon now? She only contacts him when it's necessary with the kids. He's kept to his two weekends a month, and the kids come home happy. [sounds about right.]

What's the hardest thing about raising 8 kids as a single mom? she's outnumbered. She has to be mom and dad. She's running 26 acres alone. [that is a lot of property to deal with by yourself.]

How do you get them all out the door in the morning? Schedule. Pack lunches the night before. She does hair at the kitchen table while they eat breakfast. [kind of a bad question... if you know her at all, the answer is going to be either "schedule" or "organize" ...]

Do you ever miss marriage? she's lonely. She misses having another parent there. [makes sense; I agree.]

Why has her style changed so much over the years? She was just a "frumply" mom when the kids were little. She had to change her t-shirt 50 times a day. [I don't know that this really answered the question. PLUS, we know her style changed, since in an episode long ago, JON picks out her clothes when shopping.]

Why does she always wear heels? She doesn't feel dressed if she doesn't have heels on. Why not? [man, am I rolling my eyes at this one!]

How old do you want to be? 30. That's when she really started to figure out who she was, but still have a wise perspective. [interesting response. I don't know that I'd say the same, but I think it works for her.]

What size is she? 2-4, and it came down after she started running. [well, you know. when you have all that exercise equipment, it would be a shame to be anything larger than a 6...]

Does she tan? She goes to tanning beds, as she's allergic to the self-tanners. That's her one unhealthy vice. [not sure if that's her only one, but okay.]

Is the tummy tuck her only plastic surgery? Yes. She believes that it was necessary. but it might not always be, she might have more surgeries later. [eye roll again...]

How do you deal with negative rumors? She ignores a lot of negativity. [what else can you do?]

How do the kids handle TV life? They don't know anything else. They know people watch them on TV. They love the crew. They think it's fun to be on TV, and they get to do a lot of fun stuff. There are people at school who think it's stupid, but most people treat them like everyone else. [I would've liked to hear from more of the kids on this one, not just Mady.]

What is the "funnest" part of having 8 kids? The big-family feel, the fact they can break into teams for anything. There's never boredom.

Which brother/sister is the loudest? Alexis.

Who eats the most? Collin.

What are the kids' favorite meals? Joel: chicken and peas and macaroni and cheese. Leah: bananas. [...why couldn't we have asked all of the kids??]

If you could be one of your siblings, who would it be? Leah picks Hannah. Joel would be himself. Mady picks Cara. [loved all the responses and the reasonings, I thought they were funny.]

Why haven't we seen more of Kate's family? She's different from them. Kate's younger brother Kevin turned on them so now she treads carefully. They may consider having a reunion of sorts because she wants to keep the kids happy and fulfilled. [that whole Kevin & Jodi thing was ridiculous. though I, too, have wondered about the rest of her family.]

If she could relive the past, what would she do differently? nothing. she stresses constantly because she's trying to make the best decisions all the time. [what a fake answer. we all have SOMETHING...]

What's her greatest accomplishment? She hopes in 30 years she has 8 children who are productive. She wants lots of grandkids, and she will do a lot of babysitting. [I wonder if she thinks that all of her kids will choose to be parents?]

Where would she be if the show never started? struggling to survive as a nurse who never saw her kids. [probably pretty true.]

Would she ever work a normal job? If she had to provide for her kids, yeah. But it's not her preference or desire - she enjoys being in the media world. [wouldn't have expected her to say anything else.]

Is paparazzi still an issue? yeah. [hopefully that's on the downward slope now...]

Had it not been for the show, would she still be with Jon? no. different things would have torn them apart - the makings were always there. [everyone says this about their divorces, so I'm inclined to agree.]

What's the hardest part about being divorced? She can't do everything. Sometimes she lets her kids down because she can't be everywhere. it's hard when the law makes you check with someone who doesn't see the kids as often to make certain decisions. [again, all believable and true.]

What are some of her hopes for the future? 8 healthy kids, still living there with the kids in the same school, still be doing something in TV, travel, learn, meet great people. [sounds to me like she knew the show wasn't going to be renewed...]

Overall, those who asked these questions probably enjoyed the episode. Personally, I didn't care for it and thought it was just a waste of an hour. Especially if the questions were received via twitter... she could be like other "celebrities" and respond in the same medium.